GEAR
CINE LENS SPECIAL
ZEISS AND EASY DOES IT!
come with shims, so users can unscrew the mount and add these to ensure a precise fit on individual cameras. Zeiss claims it developed this optical design to deliver an extremely shallow depth-of-field, even in the wide- angle range, with elegant bokeh and a harmonious focus fall-off all aided by a 12-bladed aperture. And the look can be combined with the high-end Supreme Prime family, so they are also ideal for B and C cameras in larger productions. There is a consistent positioning of the focus and iris rings across all focal lengths for quick lens changes. The calibrated focus scales are easy to read and a long 280° focus rotation aids precise focus pulling. The iris ring features 90° rotation and a non-linear scale for fine-tuning. Instead of a separate plug-in unit to record data, the Nanos have an electronic interface in the lens mount, just like most AF lenses. This records metadata such as focal length, focus distance and aperture,
Legendary German lens maker Zeiss was one of the first premium brands to react to the influx of full-frame digital DSLR cameras that were being used for filmmaking around 15 years ago. Zeiss realised the switch to more compact and affordable cameras would be huge, so there would be a need for more compact and affordable lenses. The CP.2 range was born, superseded by the much-improved CP.3 collection. Now Zeiss has upped its game with the even faster Nano prime range. Instead of the CP.3 lenses, which vary from T2.1 to T2.4, the Zeiss Nanos are the first high- speed T1.5 cine lenses made specifically for mirrorless full-frame cameras. They are a fraction smaller than CP.3 equivalents, but the added glass makes them a bit heavier. But it’s not by much. Initially available in Sony E-mount, the Nano lenses are a compact, lightweight design available in 18mm, 24mm, 35mm, 50mm, 75mm and 100mm. The lenses
and can be set in some Sony cinema cameras – which is a unique feature for manual cinema glass. It also means that focal length info can be passed onto any camera that uses it for in-body image stabilisation, such as the Sony Burano. You don’t have to faff about manually setting focal length info every time you swap lenses. Additional lens data for distortion and vignetting is available in the Zeiss Cincraft ecosystem for post-production. We didn’t have the Cincraft set-up to try out, but as “Instead of a separate plug-in unit to record data, the Nanos have an electronic interface in the lens mount”
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